Split Cane Flyrod Resource Page

Frank Stetzer
October 2, 2004

I got the bug to build my own cane rod in 1994, as a result of Bruce Connor's postings to the FlyFish@ listserv. I tried to do things as cheaply as possible (using Wayne Cattanach's book Handcrafting Bamboo Flyrods as a guide); after almost a year of assembling materials and tools, the first rod was started. I'm now cranking them out at the numbing rate of two per year.

The most important resource along the way was the Rodmakers Listserv, started by Mike Biondo in 1995, where every aspect of cane rod design and construction is discussed, sometimes at great length. Most of the information below is connected somehow to "the list". Over the years people have come and gone from "the list", of course, but its remained a friendly and helpful virtual community.

Rodmaking Resources

These are web pages I've put together as sort of a voluntary contribution to the worldwide cane rodbuilding community.

Online Hexrod

Hexrod is a computer program which performs the rod stress calculations worked out by Garrison. My online version is based on the Basic version written by Wayne Cattanach.

Rodmaker's List Taper Archive

Lots of classic and interesting rod tapers have been submitted to the Rodmakers listserv over the years. I've collected as many as I could and put them all in one place, for easy reference. There are always more to add.

Rodmaker's List Online Archive

This archive collects all the postings to the Rodmaker's listserv and has a crude search engine. Lots of good information to be mined here.

Guide Spacing #1

Compute the guide spacing for a flyrod by Wayne Cattanach's formula.

Guide Spacing #2

Compute the guide spacing for a flyrod by the Dale Clemens formula.

Rodmaking Gizmos

These are some devices I use to make cane rodbuilding simple and affordable.